DEAR HARRIETTE: My daughter’s teacher gives me way too much unsolicited advice. My daughter has good grades, she doesn’t misbehave regularly and she has never really been an issue for her teachers. Almost every time I come to pick my daughter up from school, her teacher feels the need to give me some sort of advice on what she believes would help my daughter be a better student. Because my child’s grades are completely fine, her advice is completely unnecessary and unwelcome. How should I handle this? -- Don’t Need Advice

DEAR DON’T NEED ADVICE: Rather than continuing to feel defensive and angry at this teacher, schedule a time to talk to her. Do your best to be calm and open to a positive dialogue. Ask the teacher why she sees the need to give you advice every day about your daughter’s education, especially given that she is a good student. Tell her that it makes you feel uncomfortable and that you think it is not necessary. Ask her to explain her rationale.

You describe your daughter’s grades as “completely fine.” I wonder if her teacher sees greater potential in her to reach further, to explore new ideas, to dream bigger. If that is the case, that could be good. But it may also be unnerving if it comes off as a criticism of you. If the teacher suggests that she thinks your daughter can reach higher than she is right now, consider that a great idea. Instead of feeling like the teacher is judging you, perhaps you can team up with her and come up with ideas that will motivate your daughter to do more.

DEAR HARRIETTE: My boyfriend still supports some of the most problematic musicians of all time. Some of my boyfriend’s favorite R&B artists have a lengthy history of abuse and sexual violence against women. I cannot support any artist who is a known abuser, but it doesn’t seem to faze him at all. He says that just because he doesn’t agree with their actions, it doesn’t mean that he can’t listen to their music. I’m thinking of having an in-depth discussion with him about why it’s wrong to support these musicians, but I don’t want to overreact. Am I overreacting? -- Stop Supporting Them

DEAR STOP SUPPORTING THEM: This is an age-old problem that is worth contemplating. Many of the most creative and successful people in the world have had a dark side that is often equally as bad as their greatness. Does that make their bad behavior forgivable? No. But it is common to discover that a beloved artist has a questionable history.

I believe you can have intense and thoughtful discussions with your boyfriend about his artists of choice. You can provide compelling arguments for why you do not support them, and he likely will counter with his ideas for why he likes them anyway. Will you come to a resolution? I doubt it. If you feel strongly enough, you may be able to come to a truce where he does not play the offensive artists within earshot of you. That would be a huge compromise.

(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR HARRIETTE: I decided to limit the amount of contact that my family is allowed to have with me. Now that I am older, I realize how truly toxic they are. I want to be cordial with them, and I want them to know how much I love them, but cutting off their access to me means protecting my peace. I feel slightly guilty about this, but it’s been months since I’ve spoken to them, and I haven’t had even the slightest bit of drama in my life ever since. Am I doing the right thing? -- Family Ties

DEAR FAMILY TIES: Your experiment has shown you that staying connected to your family is not healthy for you, at least not right now. Trust that. You don’t have to write them off completely. But you also do not have to be entangled in their daily lives or whatever drama plagues you when you are in regular contact.

Evaluate what you have been doing with yourself during the time that you have been disconnected from them. How have you spent your time, and with whom? What has your state of mind been each day? To what can you attribute that state of mind? Continue this evaluation for a couple of weeks so that you can assess how you are living.

Next, decide with what frequency you will engage your family at all. For instance, will you call them once a quarter? Will you send them a card? Will you visit? Whatever you decide, observe how that interaction goes. It could be that once you decide you are going to control how much and how you interact with them, you will be able to hold on to your power more solidly and not get rocked when you do contact them. Continue to evaluate what works and how you feel as you establish a rhythm of some kind with them.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I found out that a co-worker of mine was still coming into work even after testing positive for COVID. We work at a restaurant, so it is very dangerous that she was handling other people’s food while ill. When I found out that she was positive, she told me that I needed to be understanding of the fact that she’s a single mother and that if she doesn’t come into work every day to earn her tips, she’ll have nothing. Should I report her? -- Working While Sick

DEAR WORKING WHILE SICK: Guess what? Thousands of employees all over the country are doing the same thing that your co-worker is doing -- because they need to work. Should you say something? Yes, I think you should, but you may want to approach it from a big-picture view. Suggest to your boss that they give employees rapid tests once a week to ensure their health and the well-being of their customers. Point out that you believe that people have been coming to work who are COVID-19 positive, and it concerns you. Keep it vague if you can, especially since you cannot prove your co-worker’s status. But make the main point that in order to keep the restaurant safe, the management needs to put safeguards in place.

(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR HARRIETTE: My best friend is extremely upset that I’ve opted out of going to Miami for her birthday. We were set to go at the end of the month, but because of the new COVID variant, I decided to cancel my flight. We’ve had these plans for months, but I don’t want to get sick. My friend thinks that I’m using COVID as an excuse to flake on her. What should I do? -- Canceling Plans

DEAR CANCELING PLANS: COVID-19 has disrupted everyone’s life in one way or another. Like your friend, I believe we all thought we would have this disease and its side effects in the rearview mirror by now. Sadly, that is far from the truth. I spoke to a doctor who said that we are all going to have to figure out how to live with the disease, meaning we must take COVID-19 into account in every decision we make. This is an individual choice that should be rooted in the facts.

As of this printing, the state of Florida was facing an increase of more than 900% in COVID-19 outbreaks. Thousands of flights have been canceled, and there is no clear sense of when the numbers will drop significantly. This surely is a good reason to give you pause before jumping on a plane to go to Miami. I am not saying, “Don’t go.” I am saying, "Make smart choices for yourself and stick by them."

While you cannot predict what the numbers will be in a couple of weeks, you do know that the outbreak will still be pervasive. Talk to your best friend. Let her know how much you want to spend time with her around her birthday, but you have to make a decision based on your health and your research.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I bought a good friend of mine a very expensive bracelet a few years ago. Giving her the bracelet meant a lot to me because I knew how badly she wanted it. The other day I saw a picture of her sister wearing the exact same bracelet. My feelings are really hurt. How could she give away a gift that I bought specifically for her? I don’t even really know her sister. Should I confront my friend about this? -- Regifting

DEAR REGIFTING: I know how tough that must have been for you to see your gift on someone else’s wrist, even if it was your friend’s sister. However, you need to leave that alone. Gifts are not supposed to come with strings. You gave your friend the bracelet because she longed for it. Clearly, she valued it. Giving it to her sister or just letting her sister wear it (you don’t know the circumstances surrounding that photo) means that it is special to her. You know she loves her sister. Whatever the reason is that she passed it along -- temporarily or permanently -- once the gift left your fingers and transferred to your friend’s, you no longer had any right to it or possession of it. Do your best to accept that it is currently being enjoyed!

(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)